The purpose of NRP is to promote conceptual and theoretical advances that can have a catalytic influence on progress in research on the nervous system at four levels: molecular, cellular, neural, and behavioral. The method is to bring about intellectual collaboration by gifted scientists to accomplish the following: To establish what is definitely known, what is controversial, and what is clearly not known. To develop new conceptual interpretations that can expedite experimental breakthrough in neuroscience. To identify directions along which future research will prove most promising.